Saved

3. Secrets

After Paige came back to the table, I was barely paying attention to anything anyone was saying. I was racking my brain, thinking of Paige and Paige liking me. I've felt that way about her for years, has she known?

"Landon?" Paige said next to me, dragging me out of my mind of thoughts.

I looked down, and there they were again, those eyes that I was sure could see right through me.

"Is everything okay?" Paige whispered, her voice was unsettled and shaky.

"Yeah, why wouldn't it be?" I smoothed a smile on my face and looked up from my tray, and I found Tanya (Tamara?) staring me down, burning holes in me.

"Right, okay." Paige mumbled beside me, noticing the exchange of glances between her friend and I. She reached to tear on her water bottle label, only to discover that it was already gone.

That must be a nervous habit of hers. But, I couldn't think too much of if because the bell rang and the crowds began forming, I turned to search for Paige. I wanted to talk to her, but she was already gone.

Running through the cafeteria and out the doors, I searched for her brown hair flowing in the wind. I turned in a circle, and spotted her, jogging to catch up.

"Paige! Paige, wait up." I breathed behind her and she finally stopped and spun around to look me directly in the eye.

"Yes, Landon?" She sighed out, obviously frustrated.

"I'm sorry about lunch today, I was just a tad, um, well, frazzled?" I sputtered out.

"You were fine before I left." She said, no falter in her voice.

"It was Tamara, wasn't it?" I quickly pulled myself from my thoughts, that was her name!

"Tamara? What would she have said?" I said, pretending that nothing happened.

"She's never been good at keeping secrets, I know she told you, Landon." She said, exasperated and a bit nervous now.

"Well that depends on what you think she told me." I mumbled, looking down to find very vulnerable blue eyes under me.

The late bell echoed across the campus and I groaned in frustration. 

"Nothing, it's nothing Landon." She said before she ran off to her class leaving me standing in the middle of the courtyard, completely and utterly confused.

And now, I was angry. Angry at myself. Angry at Tamara. Angry at backpacks on the floor.

Why was I so stupid?

I was already late for class, so I took my time walking, trying to blow off steam.

I remembered Paige face, whipping around to look at me, all sorts of saddness and confusion on her face, and I felt myself getting angrier. I tried to picture her smiling face to ease my nerves, but it only made me worse. All I could think about was how badly I screwed up.

"Watch it, dick." I felt my shoulder ram into another and I could feel myself exploding like a bomb.

The last thing I remember was being pulled off the scrawny football player and being dragged into an office by the school deputy.

Seated in a mildew-smelling, sticky hot lobby, I craned my neck to look around and my eyes fell into a office across the hall. I saw brunette hair flowing in the stream of air coming from a fan.

Paige.

She was filing papers. She must have been the office aide.

"Stay in this seat, don't even think about getting up." I heard a slurred, bellowing voice and found the big, and probably drunk deputy sitting in the chair beside me, motioning towards the office Paige was in.

Looking back over to the office, I saw that Paige had looked up from her filing to see who was talking. Her eyes fell on mine, I saw them widen and then narrow.

"Landon?" Paige gasped as she walked towards me. Stopping in front of my seat, I looked up to find her hand raise, probably to touch my now bruising cheek.

"Don't even think about it." The deputy spat out, almost incoherent. He shoved himself in front of her, grabbing her wrist harshly before it could reach my face.

"He's not a fugitive." Paige retorted, eyes zeroing in on the man between us.

"Doesn't matter, now does it pretty thing?" His voice was raised and he had a smirk plastered on his face. Dropping her wrist abruptly, he lead her back into the office she was previously in, holding her by her upper arm, watching her ass in front of him all the way there.

The anger from before came bubbling back up again. He should not have eyed her that way. He should not have touched her that way. He should not be here. I should not be here.

Images of him grabbing her wrist flash in my mind. My shoulders began to rise and fall as my breathing became harder. The deputy had left to go to the bathroom, and I was planning my punch techniques for when he returned.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and I was ready to turn around and swing when my eyes met Paige's. Deja vu.

"Breathe, Landon. Punching the cop will only make it worse." She comforted. I idly wondered if she would rub my back again. I wanted her to.

Instead, she lifted her hands to my face and turned it to face hers. Her thumbs ran along my swollen cheeks. I closed my eyes and let out a sigh, leaning my face into her hands.

"Get up! Now!" The deputy hollered from the doorway across the room. My eyes flew open, expecting Paige to remove her hands from my face. But her eyes stayed in mine, her hands made no movemens besides the methodical strokes of her thumbs.

'Ignore him' Paige mouthed at me, her eyes never leaving mine. I was surprised at her audacity.

"Excuse me miss, but I do believe I told you to get up." The big, loud man egged on, standing above us. He made a move to grab her arm again and before I could to anything about it, before his hand even reached her arm, Paige stood up, standing on her toes to whisper something into his ear.

"When you shout, it projects more breath, and I can smell liquor on yours, whiskey maybe?" I saw his eyes almost pop out of their sockets. "So if I were you, I'd stick to a talking level." Paige flattened her feet to the ground and begins walking back to the office.

I was stunned, in awe even. One minute she's comforting me, and the next she's leaving the deputy with his jaw on the ground.

Thompson was ingraved in a silver plate pinned to his green shirt. Smirking up at him, I watched as he sat silently in the seat across from me, occasionally breathing into his hands, lifting it up to his nose to smell it.

In that moment, I knew I chose the right girl to give my only valentine to in 2nd grade.